


A Case of Stolen Reports

by Elleth



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Backstory, Character Study, Gen, Kidfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-07 03:34:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16400573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elleth/pseuds/Elleth
Summary: How Tuuri Hotakainen joined the Keuruu Skalds.





	A Case of Stolen Reports

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StarSpray](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarSpray/gifts).



> Here's hoping you enjoy! ♥

The air smelled like ink and paper outside the door that muffled Onni's tired voice. 

Tuuri caught few of his words through the thick wood she was pressing her ear against, more from the woman he was talking to, words like "opportunity" and "distraction" and other important-sounding, exciting ones that made her feel like a little less like a lost girl in a weird place, and more like she could like it in Keuruu. It'd be good, and when the head Skald had interviewed her in her private office before calling Onni in, she'd managed to spell out the words she dictated with no mistakes. She'd also said that Tuuri might even have to learn Icelandic or Swedish or both, and that still made her excited. 

Tuuri swallowed hard to keep the squeaking at bay that'd give her away for sure, and scrambled to sit down in the corner of the main office where Onni had told her to wait on an uncomfortable wooden bench while he settled things. He'd said not to listen, unless it was to the Skalds working in the main office, the clatter of typewriter keys, the scratching of pens, and the rustle of paper, among a constant low hum of conversation and laughter, but what Onni didn't know... 

Besides, Tuuri had glanced around the office earlier - there was one corner where younger girls and boys worked near one of the windows, filing away the papers that others had finished typing and signing. Most of the quiet giggles came from them, and Tuuri couldn't help glancing longingly into their direction, wondering if she could make friends with any of them, or if she'd wind up weird and lonesome like Lalli and Onni. A trickle of other visitors dropped in and out the office, mages who had worked the night shift and night scouts after their run bringing their stamped reports from the gate. Reports of the trolls and the scary things they'd seen, and all about the Silent World outside Keuruu's walls, hunting and cleansing operations, mail, and everything that went on. 

It'd been Lalli - or rather, Lalli being reprimanded for being tardy and carrying a stack of reports home instead of handing them in - that first brought the Skalds' office to Tuuri's attention. Onni had just been whining at her that she needed a job so they could eat and afford to live instead of freeloading, but she wasn't either immune or a mage, so she couldn't do anything interesting. The only thing she'd been able to think about - the mechanics shop - had had a terribly rude, old, greasy man who'd laughed them off the premises before Onni had finished his proposal that Tuuri work there. It made her even more determined to work there someday, too, but she also liked the scout reports Lalli had left sitting on the kitchen table, and carried them off to read in bed. He didn't write a lot, mostly just a few words where and when he'd seen what troll or beast, but that was enough to send Tuuri's imagination flying… Maahinen and Manalan Rakki and so many more! She was still reading when someone from the office arrived to check, and Lalli's accusatory voice pointed out that _she_ had the reports, as if she was responsible for him messing up in the first place. 

Lalli had gotten away with a slap on the wrist, but her interest had been enough to earn her a few curious glances - and an invitation for an interview that didn't let her sleep almost until morning with excitement. 

This - this could even be good. It better be, since she'd chased her thoughts and forgotten to listen in any more. Maybe she'd even get to go to Iceland or Sweden to learn the languages better, but just reading reports from mages and others who were allowed to leave Keuruu, their troll encounters, and things about the outside, and knowing _everything_ that went on in the town - it'd be so, so good. 

If only they wouldn't take so long! Tuuri swung her legs and listened to the hum of the office, and waited.

Onni's face, when the door finally opened, was wet with tears, but he didn't look his usual grumpy self, and the head Skald was smiling and patting his back as he fumbled for a handkerchief. 

That meant good things, Tuuri knew. If you had to live with Onni, you learned which tears were good tears and which weren't. 

"Welcome to the Skalds, Tuuri," the woman said, gesturing around the room in a sweeping motion and putting an arm around her shoulders. "What do you say, would you like to start your training today? Your brother told me good things about you, you seem like a bright girl, and I think you'll fit right in! We have agreed on the terms of your employment until you finish school, and if you'd like it, you can help me set up your contract as your very first task even before I show you around." 

"Yes!" Tuuri said, feeling another 'eeee' bubbling in her chest waiting to burst out, alongside a wide yawn from too little sleep. "I want to start right now!"


End file.
